Detective Fishkill Cracks the Case

Can you spot the clues?

#1 "A well-dressed corpse"

Detective Aldo Fishkill arrived at the crime scene at precisely around 8:10 to 8:30 pm. He found the area taped off with the 'Police Line -Do Not Cross' tape. He could find no way around the tape, nor could he step over it. And Fishkill had never been the type of man to duck under anything. He took out his Lugar and fired one shot at the yellow tapeline, neatly severing it in two. He then stepped into the crime scene.

Police Chief Bleck leaned out of a window and called to the Detective. "We got a murder here, Fishkill. Come up to the 2^nd floor."

On the 2^nd floor there was a horrific stench. Even after all the years of police work Fishkill still found the smell to be all but unbearable. He knew in an instant that the chief had had onions for lunch again.

"What do you make of this?" the chief asked, pointing to the body of a dead man sprawled out on the floor of the apartment. He was in a blue pinstripe suit. He had on black shoes and a black shirt and a red paisley tie, the kind of tie they used to call a 'power tie' back in the 1980's.

"We think he is, um was, a stock broker or lawyer or something." Said the chief. "To me it looks like another domestic dispute gone to extremes."

"Extreme, yes." Said Fishkill. "but this was no domestic dispute."

HOW DID FISHKILL KNOW?

"Look at his eyebrows, chief." Said the detective, pointing.

The chief self-consciously put his hand over his own eyebrows. "What about his eyebrows?" he asked.

"See how scruffy and bushy they are? This poor sap has no has no woman in his life. He has no domestic life, therefore no domestic dispute. No, this was the work of a professional hit man." Fishkill said. "And I think I know where you can find him."

WHAT TIPPED THE DETECTIVE OFF?

Bending down, Fishkill removed a business card that had been stapled to the man's chin. It read:

Another Whack by Cedrick 'the Smear' Toft

Professional Hit man

Located behind

Don's Capuccino and Lamb Chops

#2 "The Long Vacation"

"Thank you for getting here so fast, detective." Said the elderly woman. It was clear she had been crying.

"No problem, ma'am. I was already in the room when you called me. Now what can I do for you?" said Detective Aldo Fishkill.

"It's my husband. He's missing." She sobbed.

"Missing what, ma'am? An eye? A front tooth?" asked Fishkill.

"No." she said. "He himself is missing. He has been gone for years."

"So, he might be missing an eye or a tooth by now. Isn't that so?" asked the detective.

"I guess." She said. "But will he be back soon?"

"When did you see him last?" he asked.

"Sometime in the 1990's." she answered "He was working very hard back then and making lots of money. He used to joke that in the next century he was going to take a ten year vacation. I need you to find him and see if he is on his way. It's September 2009 and I only have a few months left to clean this place up and make dinner."

"Relax lady. Your husband won't be home for another year and three months." Said Fishkill.

HOW COULD THE DETECTIVE BE SO SURE?

"You see, most professional counters agree that the new century began on Jan 1^st, 2001, not Jan 1^st 2000" explained Detective Fishkill.

"Oh, good." Said the woman. "No real rush then"

BUT HOW DID HE KNOW THAT THE MAN WAS EVEN STILL ALIVE?

He didn't. But Detective Fishkill knew the landlord of the apartment building. And the landlord told him that he would soon raise rents. So Fishkill knew that the woman would be living in Florida in one year's time and he would be off the case.